The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of hybrid Heuchera, botanically known as a Heuchera of hybrid origin and is hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘Encore’.
The new cultivar was derived from a controlled breeding program by the inventor in Hantay, France. The inventor made a cross in summer of 2005 between Heuchera ‘Gloire d'Orleans’ (not patented, syn. Heuchera×brizoides ‘Gloire d'Orleans’) as the male parent and Heuchera×villosa ‘Caramel’ (U.S. Plant No. 16,560) as the female parent. The goal of the breeding program was to obtain unique cultivars of Heuchera that combined the flowering habit of ‘Gloire d'Orleans’ with the vigor and unique foliage coloration of Heuchera×villosa. The inventor selected ‘Encore’ in 2006 as a single unique plant amongst the seedlings that resulted from the above cross.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished under direction of the inventor by in vitro propagation in Rijswijk, The Netherlands in winter of 2007. Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by division and tissue culture has shown that the unique features are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.